And, a broader category, ska covers. Why is it, by the way, that two-tone, renowned as a political form of music, got so terrible whenever it explicitly turned to politics? Lots of great tunes about the general shitness of work, poverty, late capitalism; and then when political demands get raised, you get the mediocre “Free Nelson Mandela” and “Stand Down Margaret,” the worst ska record ever made?
Wow, Christina Aguilera’s new video is pretty awesome. I especially like the bit where they copy the choreography of “Springtime for Hitler.” The first time as farce, the second time as… I’ve just realized that I forgot to mention the also brilliant video for “Hurt,” which features an elephant. A sad elephant. Hopefully, she’ll keep up the quality by releasing “Nasty Naughty Boy” next, with a video in the style of Cabaret.
Talking to a friend a while ago, he expressed surprise when I said that I found, in sad music, not tears and catharsis, but an odd sort of strength, or even cheer. “But listen to Miles Davis playing Concierto de Aranjuez,” he said; “how can you not feel the bleakness, the absolute despair in that record?” But what stops it short of being absolute despair is precisely the fact that it is a record. It’s not simply the bleak fact of despair, but a representation of despair; hence proof that something can be done with sadness. This kind of sublimation is not a theodicy, at least not in the traditional sense. The brute fact of suffering is not justified by the brute fact of redemption, rather, redemption, or the closest we can get to it, comes through the fact that suffering can be interpreted, that the fact that we suffer never determines what we then do with that suffering.
I was reminded of this by two things this week. Read more↴
Listening to Lily Allen’s “Littlest Things,” it occurs to me that her mildly urban beats are all a smokescreen; what she really wants to do is become a chansonnier. And why not? London could do with a female Jacques Brel; well, maybe more of a calypso Peter Sarstedt, but either way I approve.
Well, this can hardly be bad news. 